Heel-lift container



T. LUND. HEEL LIFT CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, i919.

i Patented Oct. 31 1.9272- ui un;

` ANH/7W Fi g. )ZMM' 4%/ Jl?atented @et 3l, i922.

emrah raraarorrice.

THOMAS Lann. er envian-tv, arassacnnsnrrs, assiettes To UNrrn-n MACHINERY coaronnfrioiv, or rnrnnsen, new n cenroaafrron or new amasar.. y

nner-Lira conranvnn.

- applicati@ inea apen ai, 191s. i sei-iai no. 292,303.

To all t0/tom, t may concer/n Be it known that l, THoMAs Leno, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State Yof Massachusetts, have invented certain lin` proveniente in l-leel-l'iift KOntainers, of

which the following description, in connec tion with the accompanying drawings, is

specification, like referenze characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to containers and particularly to crates for facilitating the ef;-

peditious handling of heel lifts in connection with modern machinery.

Formerly lifts were cut by relatively slow methods and placed in barrels or bins and were handled individually as fed by hand to machines for subsequently treating them, or were handled by the girls who assembled them into heels. Lifts are now cut from sheets of leather-board by rapidly running machines which deliver the product in ordinary arrangement in horizontal columns from which they are transferred, still in col umn arrangement, to crates in which they are laid, several columns wide and several tiers high, the crate being of a size to hold what a man can conveniently lift. The crates are moved as required to the machines for subsequently operating upon or using them, such as lift gouging machines and heel builders, which machines are provided with niagazines from which the lifts are fed automatically. By thus keeping the lifts continuously in ordinaryY arrangement individual handling of lifts is eliminated and much time saved over old methods. As the attendants transfer the columns of lifts to the crates and remove them to the machine magazines considerable time is lost and some injury to the fingers ofthe attendants is caused in handling the columns because an entire column can not be .fitted into the crate or removed therefrom at one yoperation. instead, a part length column has to be introduced and then enough more wedged in to fill out the column, some of the first ones tipping over while the rc mainder are being reached forgand in transferring the lifts to the machine magazine a handful. must be talren out of the middle of the column before the attendant can get his fingers down at the two ends to grasp and raise the remainder of the column.

Thr object of thisinvention is to so iinpro've heel lift crates that lifts in columns can be readily introcuced andremovedl as units. To this end, the illustrated embodiment of the invention `comprisesy a crate having opposed interior walls provided with finger vchannels alternating with vertical lift engaging ribs]` For thefull advantage fthe invention, thechannels and ribs Vare preferably so related as 'to present at least two finger channels in each of said walls foreach column of lifts, and preferably' the linger channels inthe two opposed walls will be `approximately opposite to each other and in line with the center of the column. In other words, the channels are so positioned relatively to the diameters of the lifts as to enable the columns to be grasped at the middle of their ends.

illustrative examples of the invention are shown in the drawing in which Fig. l is a plan view of a crate constructed according to my invention, said crate having three columns of lifts packed therein.

Fig. 2 is a broken out perspective view illustrating the method of either inserting or removing a column of lifts;

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective illustrating a modification hereinafter described.

Referring first to Figs. lv and 2 the end members 5 of the crate are each provided with vertical channels 6 each of which channels is wide enough to admit a mans nger. The channels 6 are separated by ribs 7 against which the endmost lifts of the ycolumn of lifts 8 rest. The ribs may be nar rowed so that the finger channels may be close enoughtogether so that even for small lifts at least one finger channel will be provided opposite each end of the column.

In Fig the construction is substantially the same excepting that instead of grooving wall members of the crate to form the channels and ribs, a corrugated plate may be employed consisting of a lining sheet formed to provide channels 6 and ribs 7, the ends of the sheet being so attached to other wall members of the crate as to strengthen the crate. ln Fig. 3 the end of the lining is shown as having a flange 9 secured to a side wall l0 of the crate by suitable fastenings l1. rlhis structure enables crates `already made to be readily adapted for the W ithleither constructionthe Workman has the great advantage that he can lpick up from the stacking trough of the lift cutting machine a full length column of lifts (which may be indicated'by gage marks on the trough and which may be a unit quantity of lifts) and while holdingthem in horizontal column formation, lift the column bodily into the crate because his fingers can. lit into the iinger channels at either v end of thecrate.. Similarlyin transferring lifts from the crate to a magazine of `a, gouging machine or a heel building machine the attendant can :stick a finger or fingers into the finger channels 6 at each end of the column, and lift theentire column bodily out and placeit in the machine niaga- Zine in lless than half the time required Withthe common crates to pick `out a handful oflifts to loosen the column and then after straightening up the remainder seize them by Lthe ends of the shortened column as hedoes now with the ordinary crate.r y

It is to be nnderstoodthat I do vnot limit myself to the particular proportions indicated in the drawings as the same may be variously modified according to the size of the lifts or according to the preferences of Having explained the nature of this invention and described constructions embody ing the same in economically advantageous forms what I claim is:

A 'container for horizontally-arranged stacks of leather blanks of differentsizes, said container having a flat bottom and a plurality of vertical finger channels a,rranged in the inner faces of the Wallsopposite the ends of the stacks in such a manner that at least one channel in each of said Walls vwill come opposite the end blanks of a stack regardless of the size of the blanks, to facilitate removal of Ithe blanks as described. i l

In testimony whereof I have' signed my name -to this specification.

THoMAsv LUND. 

